The audit recommended a number of initiatives to reduce distribution head losses to optimise the dam pump operations, including some pipe replacement and the potential to replace the 45kW dam pumps and add variable speed drives. The recommendations would save 42% of the energy on those systems, with an annual saving of over $40,000 and a payback of just over 2 years. Emission savings have been estimated to be 113 t CO2-e per year.
The farm is located in Brookstead in the Darling Downs region of south-west Queensland. It produces various crops including sorghum, chickpeas, mung beans, wheat, barley and rye grass, and has around 1,000 head of dairy cattle. A centre pivot is used for irrigation. Several centrifugal pumps draw water from the site dam, and one draws water from the effluent dam to serve the nearby pivot irrigator or to transfer to the site main dam.
The farm owner has expressed interest in implementing energy-saving initiatives and is investigating the cost to implement the audit report recommendations.